Chapter 14
Mercy had been awake for nearly an hour, listening to Zane's steady heartbeat and trying to make sense of the tangle of emotions in her chest.
Everything felt different now. The careful walls she'd built over twenty years of abandonment and disappointment had crumbled under his touch.
The independent cargo pilot who trusted no one had melted into someone who wanted impossible things.
Someone who was seriously considering following a dragon lord to his homeworld based on nothing more than the way he kissed her and the promise in his eyes.
It was terrifying.
"I can hear you thinking," Zane murmured against her hair, his voice rough with sleep. His arm tightened around her, pulling her closer to the furnace of his body.
"I need to go see Myles." She lifted her head to look at him, noting the way his jaw tensed at the other man's name. "About the bounty and the attack. To figure out what our options are."
"I'll come with you."
The immediate response made warmth flutter in her chest, even as her independence bristled. "I need to do this alone. He's an old friend. He might be more willing to help if it's just me."
Zane's eyes flickered with something that might have been dragon fire. The possessive streak that had emerged yesterday was still there, barely leashed. "After what happened on the beach?"
"This is different. Myles has known me for years. He's not going to hurt me." She pressed her palm against his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heartbeat. "I can handle this myself. You understand that, right?"
The internal struggle played out across his features. The dragon that wanted to wrap her up and keep her safe warred with the man who respected her competence. Finally, he nodded, though she could see the effort it took.
"If you're not back in two hours, I'm coming after you."
"Deal." She leaned down to kiss him, meaning it to be quick and reassuring.
But the moment their lips met, heat flared between them.
His hand fisted in her hair, deepening the kiss until she was breathless and aching all over again.
When they finally broke apart, his eyes held flecks of fire that hadn't been there before.
"Be careful," he said, and the rough edge to his voice made her shiver.
She had to escape the room before another kiss could turn into something more.
She found Myles near the hangar where they'd landed the stolen shuttle.
The morning sun cast long shadows across the landing platform, and maintenance crews moved with purpose around various aircraft.
The shuttle was gone. Probably already stripped for parts or sold to someone who wouldn't ask inconvenient questions.
"Merc!" Myles straightened from where he'd been examining a sleek transport, his weathered face creasing into a smile. "How are you holding up?"
"I've been better." She fell into step beside him as he continued his inspection route. "We need to talk about what happened yesterday."
"I heard." His expression sobered. "Bad business, that. How many bodies do you think I can clean up?"
"If I knew that, I’d tell you." She kicked at a piece of debris, watching it skitter across the polished platform. "We escaped from a pirate calling himself Horris. He had some … strange ideas about me and my dad."
Myles nodded thoughtfully. His comm unit chirped, and he held up a finger before answering. "Judd here. What? No, tell them to wait. I’ll be ready in an hour or so." He ended the call with an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. Where were we?"
"Figuring out how screwed I am."
"You know, I have to say I'm surprised." Myles resumed walking, hands clasped behind his back in a gesture she remembered from their freight-running days. "I didn’t really think you were Zane’s type. Or that he’s yours."
Something in his tone made her stomach clench. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he's got quite the reputation. Did you know he once fled from Lady Persoff's bedroom wearing nothing but a bedsheet? Had to scramble down three stories of castle wall while her husband chased him with a plasma sword."
The words hit her like ice water. "What?"
"Oh, that's nothing compared to the Pinae incident." Myles laughed, apparently oblivious to her shock. "He seduced three of their sacred courtesans right out from under Emperor Zil's nose. Had to be smuggled off-planet in a cargo container when they put a death mark on him."
Mercy's mind reeled. The man who'd baked her bread and cleaned her galley? The one who'd held her like she was precious? "Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"
"Dragon lord Zane of Vemion?” Myles's eyebrows rose. "Trust me, his exploits are legendary. Half the noble houses in three systems have banned him from their social functions. The other half are just waiting for their chance."
Each word was a knife between her ribs. She thought of how Zane had kissed her, like he wanted forever. How he'd asked her to come to Vemion, to build something together. Had it all been an act? Another conquest for the notorious playboy prince?
"I had no idea," she managed. He’d talked about avoiding the Matchmaker, about not wanting attachment. But hearing actual stories rather than whatever he’d implied …
Could he mean it when he looked at her like things were real? Was that how he’d looked that the courtesans?
"Don't take it personally. He's charming as hell when he wants to be. Just don't expect anything permanent. Commitment isn't exactly his strong suit."
Myles said more, but Mercy barely heard it. Her thoughts spun in sickening circles, replaying every moment with Zane through this new lens. Had he been laughing at her naivety? The independent pilot who'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book?
"Listen," Myles said, and she forced herself to focus. "I can get you out of here safely. I still have contacts with some decent crews who could use a good pilot. You could work your way back up to your own ship again."
Her old life. The one where she answered to no one, trusted no one, needed no one. It should have sounded like salvation. Instead, it felt hollow.
"You could have your life back, Merc. The way it was before all this pirate nonsense."
But did she want her life back?
The loneliness, the constant struggle, the walls that kept everyone at arm's length? Even if everything Myles said about Zane was true, even if she'd been a fool to trust him, going back to that existence felt like a kind of death.
"Why don't you think it over?" Myles suggested. "You can use my office. Get away from any distractions and really consider your options."
Distractions. Meaning Zane. The man who might have been playing her from the beginning.
Or who was offering her everything and ready to give up his playboy life for … her.
She nodded numbly and followed Myles to a modest office tucked away from the guest areas. It was a standard administrative space with a desk, chair, and single window overlooking the landing platforms.
"Take all the time you need," Myles said, closing the door behind him.
Mercy slumped into the chair, her head in her hands. The stories Myles had told painted a picture of a man nothing like the one she'd come to know. But which version was real?
The commitment-phobic playboy or the gentle dragon who'd held her through the night?
She thought about their conversations, searching for signs she'd missed. The way he'd talked about running from duty and expectations. His plan to sabotage the matchmaking meeting. Even his offer for her to come to Vemion, was that just another game? Another challenge to overcome?
But then there was the other stuff. The way he'd looked at her when he thought she wasn't watching. The protective fury when the mercs had grabbed her. The reverent way he'd touched her injuries, like each one caused him physical pain.
The way he’d killed for her.
Whatever else Zane might be, whatever his past looked like, that moment on the beach had been real. The connection between them was real.
And Myles was full of shit. Maybe the stories were true, but that wasn’t Zane, not anymore.
She stood abruptly. She was done running from things that scared her. Done letting other people's opinions dictate her choices. Zane had a past. So did she. Maybe he'd made mistakes. But she'd felt something real between them, and she was willing to fight for it.
And she wasn’t going to let Myles talk her out of anything.
She was ready to go find Zane and tell him exactly that. But the door handle didn't turn.
She tried again, putting her shoulder into it. Nothing. The mechanism didn't even click.
"What the hell?" She examined the lock, but it was a standard electronic system. No manual override she could see. "Myles!"
No response.
Had he locked her in?
Her mind was reeling with questions when she heard a transport shuttle's engines roar to life outside. She turned to the window, watching as a familiar ship settled onto the landing platform. Her blood turned to ice as it powered down and the hatch slid open.
Horris stepped out.
Even from a distance, the pirate captain looked exactly as she remembered. Bulky frame, scarred face, the casual arrogance of a man accustomed to taking what he wanted. He scanned the platform like he owned it, then smiled as Myles approached.
They shook hands like old friends.
What the ever-living fuck?
Devastating betrayal roiled through her. Myles hadn't been protecting her. He'd been stalling. Keeping her distracted while he waited for Horris. The comm call, the stories about Zane, the offer to help her escape, all of it had been theater.
Her old friend had sold her out.
Had he done it before or after those mercs had found her on the beach? Had that tipped him off? Or had she done it herself when they landed and told him the whole sordid tale?
She watched through the window as credits changed hands. Watched Myles point toward the building where she was trapped. Watched Horris nod and gesture to his crew.
They were coming for her.
Mercy pressed her back against the door, mind racing. She had to get out of there. Somehow. She didn’t have a comm unit, and there wasn’t a built-in one on the desk. She tested the window, but it didn’t open.
If—no, when—she lived through this, she wasn’t going without a weapon ever again.
She banged on the door and tried to kick the lock. It did nothing.
Outside, Horris and his crew were already moving toward the building. In minutes, they'd be at the door. In hours, she'd be back in that cramped cell, counting down to her death.
She'd trusted the wrong person. And she was going to die for it.